Original Ties 1 Always and Forever
by karmaholmes221
Summary: Over the course of my long life, I have come to believe that we are bound forever to those with whom we share blood, and while we may not pick our family that bond can be our greatest strength, or our deepest regret. This unfortunate truth has haunted me for as long as I can recall...


_Mississippi river, 300 years previous_

 _"What do you make of that sir?" a young sailor asked the captain, pointing out away from the shore towards an unknown ship._

 _The captain looked out on it and spoke his thoughts out loud. "No banner, no flag, floated in out of nowhere, a miracle ship… why is it just sitting out there… suppose we ought to find out."_

 _The ship creaked as the men heaved open the door to go below deck. Once the door finally shifted away to reveal a dark passage the men hesitantly made their way into the darkness, taking a few lanterns with them. The ship was as empty and silent as a tomb. "Where in hell is everyone?" a crew member asked, looking around._

 _"Deserted, making everything in the hold legally forfeited, take whatever suits you." The captain commanded, turning around and spotting two caskets. ._  
 _  
"What do you make of that?" he asked his first mate._

"Open it up" the first mate commanded, gesturing as two crew members opened one of the caskets to reveal a body, the veins black and easily visible against the sickly gray skin, a silver dagger lodged in the chest of the young man. . /

 _Suddenly there was a gust of air and one of the crew men disappeared, then another, and another, until the captain was left on his own. He whirled round to face the casket at the sound of a clatter only to find a young women around the age of eighteen perched on top of the now closed casket. Her beauty was beyond anything that he had ever seen before,_ _her hair was sandy blonde, and gently waved to the middle of shoulder blades, her eyes were a bright glowing green framed by long, dark lashes that were in startling contrast with the pale ivory color of her skin._ _She was_ _wearing a black and white, satin dress .uk/ ,it hugged her waist and empathized the slimness of her figure, her body was tight and poised in a low predatory crouch, a feral snarl ripped through her perfect lips as she bared a set of glistening white fangs. . / "Amara, that's enough." Another women's firm voice snapped at the obviously younger girl.0_

 _The girl, Amara, gave one final growl before pulling in her fangs and continuing to glare. The other woman shook her head slightly before turning to the captain. "Hello there, lovely to see such a handsome face after a long journey and before you ask what kind of demon we are, we're vampires darling, the original vampires. Can I eat him, brother?" She asked with a smile, showing off her receding fangs._

 _"I'd rather you not." A voice sounded from behind the captain who turned slightly making sure not to turn completely away from the odd girl in front of him._  
 _  
The man behind him was well built his hair was shoulder length and he held a certain air of nobility and honor about him. "Pity, I'm Rebekah, that's Elijah," the older women, Rebekah, gestured to the man who had spoken against her eating him. albums/_

"Our brothers Kol and Finn, may they ever rest in peace, I'm sure Kol would be more at peace if you got off of him Amara," Rebekah said, watching Amara closely as she made a show of pulling out of the half crouch that she had taken and crawled off of the lid of the coffin, before gesturing to her.

"And our niece Amara, fair warning she can be quite mean." Rebekah said with a smile before she was interrupted by another man's voice.

"Are we saving the best for last?" Rebekah ground her teeth for a moment before turning around to face the man who was holding the lifeless, bloody body of the first mate. image/

"And our half brother, Amara's father, Niklaus. Ignore him, he's a beast." She said icily.

Niklaus only laughed and dropped the body in his hands, it tumbled down the steps and fell with a thud at Rebekah's feet, she quickly took a step back to keep the blood off of her dress. "We fled Europe and survived the seas. Would you rather I arrive hungry on the shores of our new homeland?" he said cockily.

"Your manners are, as always Father, without equality and honor" Amara said with obvious wisdom beyond her appearance.

"Shut it girl, or the next thing to come out of your mouth will be your tongue." Nicklaus threatened.  
Blinding rage showed in the young girl's eyes as she stiffened and her eyes began to glaze over, her irises began to fog over to a mysterious misty white.

"Amara control yourself." Elijah snapped, almost immediately Amara's eyes cleared and she relaxed.

Elijah then turned to the captain again. "Sir would you be so kind as to tell us where it is that we have arrived?" he asked walking up to him.

"The French colony of Louisiana, off the shores of a town they've named New Orleans." The captain stuttered out.

"I thank you so much." Elijah said as Rebekah rushed her way up the steps to meet Nicklaus and they both disappeared Amara paused at the bottom of the steps.

Elijah turned to Amara who took his hand and looked one last time at the captain."I do recommend that you find someone to assist you with the luggage." She said as she and Elijah made their way up the steps after her father and aunt.

The captain turned around to find his entire crew a bloodied mass of bodies. . /

 _***_  
Present day

"So what brings you to the big easy?" The pretty waitress asked as she poured Elijah's drink, placing it on a small napkin on the bar in front of him as they sat in the relatively empty bar called Rousseau's in the old quarter of New Orleans.

"I used to live here." Elijah said simply taking hold of the drink and taking a small drink, feeling the burning sensation as it slid down his throat

"Really, when?" the waitress asked, interested in this unknown man's history.

"Oh it feels like a hundred years ago" Elijah said smiling at the literality in this statement.

"I just moved here myself. What brought you back?" the waitress asked.

"Well my brother is here somewhere. I'm afraid he might have gotten himself into a bit of a bind?" Elijah said, taking another drink. . /

"You say that like it a common occurrence." The waitress said with a smirk.

"Well my brother is complicated, defiant, ill-mannered, and slightly temperamental." Elijah said as he recalled his brother's transformation into the vampire hybrid he was now.

"See we don't share the same father, of course that never bothered me but my brother resents it deeply, never felt like he belonged. He has a long history of getting himself into trouble." Elijah explained.

"And I'm guessing you have a long history of getting him out of it. What kind of a bind is your brother in?" The waitress said with a knowing smile as she continued to question Elijah expertly.

"He believes that there is a group of people here that are conspiring against him." Elijah explained giving the waitress an odd look, he was confused at how she was taking this with an experts understanding.

"Wow, narcissistic and paranoid, a bartender with a grad degree in psychology, total cliché." She explained with a friendly smile.

"Listen Camille I'm looking for someone who might shed some light on his current predicament, she works here, Jane-Anne Deveraux, any idea where I might find her?" Elijah said, glancing quickly at the waitress's name tag and hoping that the very reason he was in this small diner would be able to truly help him with his brother.

Camille gave him a sympathetic smile. "No, I'm sorry, I don't… but I know somebody who might." She said grabbing a napkin and a pen.

"Welcome to New Orleans, and to the crown jewel of the crescent city; the French quarter, jazz and jambalaya, romance and poetry, and for those who crave something darker, things that go bump in the night." Said the tour guide as she turned back to her tour group as they walked up the side walk towards a small shop, passing a street fortune teller on the way

"Monsters who feed on human blood, vengeful spirits of the dead, and my personal favorite the witches" She said gesturing to the shop in front of her.

"Here we have the Jardin Gris Voodoo Shop, go on browse for a hex." She said a smile on her face as her tour filed in to the shop. /

The moment the last person walked into the shop the tour guide dropped her smile and stiffened, when she spoke it was cold and expectant. "Elijah, do you want to talk or are you just going to follow me all night."

She turned around to face the old vampire who kept his face emotionless and his tone businesslike. "You know who I am" he said it as if stating a fact though with a hint of surprise seeping into his voice.

The woman in front of him smiled. "The original vampire who always wears a suit, you and your family are famous in this town, especially with the witches… and even more so with the fact that your brother and your niece are back in town as well. Earlier today Klaus was here dragging that poor girl up and down the street asking witches for information"

The information that his niece was still with her father was a surprise to Elijah, though he hid it well. He had expected that Niklaus, or Klaus as he was better known now, would have told Amara where they were staying and when to be back by and forced her out on her own and away from him so he could threaten people for information without her constant complaints on the matter of him fulfilling the threats he issued. "My brother is here because he learned that a witch was conspiring against him, someone by the name of Jane-Anne Deveraux." He asked and watched as the witch's face hardened and sorrow clouded her vision.

"If you're looking for Jane-Anne, you're a little late." The witch's tone was harsh.

"Are you telling me she's dead?" Elijah asked in disbelief.

A calculating look came over the witch's face and she sighed. "Come on, her sister Sophie's going to want to talk to you." She said.

A small group was crowded around a dead body, two girls were on the ground next to the body, one sitting there stroking the blood matted hair of the corpse, other kneeling beside her speaking words of comfort, both with tears in their eyes, Elijah recognized one who was mumbling comforts to be his niece, the other, he assumed, was Sophie Deveraux.

After making this assumption his eyes once more fell on the body, the girl's throat was ripped open wide, easily visible, her heart had also been ripped out of her chest and left to lie beside her. He turned back to the witch tears threatening to show in his eyes. "That's Jane-Anne?" he asked, the witch nodded.

Elijah was silent as he watched his niece stand and make her way out of the group, stepping carefully over the candles that were circled around the body. She wiped away her tears as she came to a stop in front of him, the witch nodded a greeting to her before leaving her and Elijah.

Elijah looked down at his niece and felt an ache in his heart at the sight of her face. He opened his arms and she stepped into his embrace, letting out a sob. "She was killed in public for anyone to find. Luckily the only people who come around here are witches. Now her sister, Sophie, has come to take her body. Her spirit can't rest until it's been properly interred in the cemetery" She said between sobs.

Elijah pulled away from her, fighting the tears in his eyes as he searched Amara's unusually dull green ones for answer. "Please tell me that your father had nothing to do with this." Amara shook her head.

"No, Jane-Anne died because she was caught practicing magic." Amara said with the ghost of a harsh tone clear in her wavering voice before she broke again into sobs and Elijah pulled her back into an embrace . . /

Elijah held her for a few more minutes. Suddenly there was a commotion of banging as the vampires of the quarter began to come out of the woodwork. Amara pulled away from Elijah and grabbed his hand. "Get ready, your about to see your first real look at Marcel in action." She said, fear evident in her voice.

"Marcel, The vampire Marcel" Elijah asked, shocked at this information; Amara nodded quickly pulling at Elijah's hand.

"Things have changed since our family fled, Marcel has changed. We need to hide, if Marcel finds out that the witches brought us back here, they'll be slaughtered." Amara said, Elijah looked into her eyes and after a moment nodded and rushed up the side of a building to crouch down behind the tall decorative trim that ran along the ledge.

From this viewpoint they could watch the proceedings without fear of being caught by the large hoard of vampires that had congregated, one man stepped out, and walked up to the original group that surrounded the body. "Well, well, well. What have we here, I have to tell you Sophie; this street corner is not proving to be the luckiest place for your family tonight. Not half an hour ago, we had to teach your sister a little lesson." Marcel said.

Sophie Deveraux / stood up straight and looked Marcel in the eye. "We're putting her to rest Marcel, just leave us alone."

"I never said you could move the body. In fact, I left it here on purpose, to send a message if anybody here is thinking of joining in some sort of rebellion. My rules state that witches can't practice in the quarter and yet a little birdie informed me that Jane-Anne was cooking up something that was magically delicious. Oh yeah, while I have you, quick question, my old friend, the hybrid, Klaus, he just happens to show up out of the blue, looking for Jane-Anne. Would you know anything about that?" Marcel asked, almost mockingly.

Sophie clenched her jaw. "I don't know. Witches don't get involved in vampire affairs."

"Yeah that would be pretty stupid that's for sure. Tell you what, why don't you go back to the restaurant, cook up some of that famous gumbo and keep those tourists happy. Take the body." He commanded while gesturing to Jane-Anne's body.

"What no, Marcel please, her body won't be at peace." Sophie begged to Marcel's retreating figure as two vampires scooped up Jane-Anne's remains and followed.

"Not my problem" Marcel called back in a sing-song voice as he walked away.

"Do you mean to tell me that after all these years Marcel is alive and well." Rebekah sounded as astonished as Elijah felt over the news; it hadn't even been an hour yet. Amara had run off after claiming she had some business that Jane- Anne had spoken of to attend to, and now Elijah was on the phone speaking to his sister who was still in Fells Church Virginia, where he, Niklaus, and Rebekah had resided for the past decade.

"Quite, it seems as if our brother has stumbled into a war zone, and I haven't been able to find him yet. Marcel, who Klaus sired and brought up beneath his own wing, now runs a menagerie of savage vampires running wild, killing in public for any human to come upon. Witches are held in subjugation. I doubt Niklaus had any idea what he was walking into."

"Sorry what was that, I stopped listening at 'our brother', our hateful traitorous bastard of a brother, who negated any sympathy I may have had for him when he shoved a dagger into my heart and stuffed me into a box for ninety years, the man who ensured that neither you nor I nor his own daughter had any happiness outside of his own selfish world." Rebekah hissed out.

"Always and forever, Rebekah, that is what we swore to one another." Elijah reminded.

"Consider this me calling take-backs." Rebekah retorted.

"You've called take-backs dozens of times over the centuries" Elijah reasoned.

"I may be old Elijah but I'm hardly senile. I know very well that when we fled and I stuck with Klaus not three years later, he stuck a silver dagger in chest and sent me into a magical slumber for ninety years. Do you know why? Because I was the audacity to go and live my life on my own without him" Rebekah snapped.

"No. I believe our brother is in trouble so whatever is going on with Marcel and the witches, its dire enough that they would risk bringing Klaus back to this town and he seems quite content to bring Amara into the cross-hairs of whatever is going on here as well. The witches have lured him here and I'd like to know why." Elijah said.

"Just keep Amara safe, you know as well as I that Klaus won't care if she gets hurt, just so long as he gets what he wants out of the process." Rebekah said before hanging up, Elijah sighed and walked across the street to Rousseau's.

A door was flung open and a very emotional Sophie walked through, stopping down a set of stairs to a small, candle lit shrine, she leaned over it, fighting tears, and began to pour salt into a pattern on the table. "Ok Jane, you got me into this mess, now give me the strength to finish it." She said as a clatter sounded from behind her and a vampire appeared.

"You're doing magic." He stated simply as another vampire appeared behind him.

"I'm praying to my dead sister; go ahead pay your respects." Sophie snapped.

"The hybrid was looking for Jane-Anne, Marcel wants to know why." The vampire stated coolly.

"You know, I'd tell you to ask her yourselves, but you can't because Marcel killed her." Sophie accused turning away from him.

The vampire grabbed her from behind, baring a set of fangs. Suddenly he disappeared, moments later his heart fell to the ground at the second vampire's feet. The second vampire turned to Sophie and took a threatening step towards her before being intercepted and throw onto the roof of a building, his heart in Elijah's hand, he turned to Sophie, who looked terrified. "I'm Elijah, you've heard of me." He introduced, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and cleaning the blood off of his hand.

Sophie nodded quickly clearing her throat. "Y-yes"

Elijah felt pity for the girl standing in front of him; she was still quite young and reminded him of Amara in the way she held herself. His voice was softer, but still with a firm edge that demanded respect when he spoke again. "So why don't you tell me what business your family has with my brother."

The pair quickly walked across the damp ground to the entrance of the cemetery, Sophie quickly opened the gate and walked inside, Elijah made to follow but found that he was unable to. Sophie turned around and gave Elijah a knowing smile; it was obvious that she had known that this would happen. "This is sacred, hollow ground, meaning vampires can't enter unless they're invited in, but since I'm desperate, come on in." she said turning around and continuing inside until they were surrounded by the graves of the dead before turning back to him. "We can talk freely here." Sophie said, gesturing to their surroundings.

"Then you best begin talking, starting with what your sister wanted with Niklaus" Elijah said in a business-like manner.

"Isn't it obvious, we have a vampire problem, and we need help, Marcel has an army backing him. The witches have been trying to fight back. We haven't had much luck, until my sister met a girl, a werewolf passing through the quarter from a small town in Virginia. She had a special… connection to your brother. Apparently they spent some… time together, one thing lead to another and now this special werewolf girl, she's pregnant, and the father… is Klaus." She said simply.

"That's impossible." Elijah replied automatically.

"Nothing is impossible, especially with your brother, think about it. They call him 'the hybrid' right?" Sophie turned to the open air behind her. "Bring her out." She called loudly.

Elijah watched as several witches came around the corner, in the center of the small group was his niece and a young woman who must have been the werewolf that Sophie had mentioned. The-Vampire-Diaries-Hayley The young girl looked up at Elijah and a look of confusion crossed her face. "Who the hell are you?" She asked.

Elijah took several steps forward shooting a look to his niece that clearly asked if what he was hearing was true. His niece gave a slight nod of her head. Elijah turned back to Sophie. "Give us a moment please"

"So have they been holding you here against your will?" Elijah asked as he stood in front of the girl, who he had found out was named Hayley, and his niece, who had been told that she had to remain as a neutral party to keep Elijah from taking Hayley and leaving town.

"They lured me out to the bayou and grabbed me. Then they did all of these weird witch-y tests. I don't understand how this could happen, I mean, vampires are dead, they can't have children." Hayley explained.

"Perhaps if you knew my family's history it would help you to understand why all of this is possible." Elijah said and Amara smiled and got up from her spot on the bench next to the werewolf girl so that Elijah could sit down, preferring a spot on the ground at his feet.

Elijah smiled and began playing with a lock of her hair, absentmindedly running it in between his fingers as she pressed her shoulders against his knees as he began to tell their history. "In the beginning, our family was human, 1000 years ago or so now. Although our mother dabbled in the dark arts we were largely just a family trying to survive at a time when it was quite difficult to do so, and for better or worse, we were happy. That is, however, until one night. Our youngest brother was killed by one of our village's greatest threats, men that could change themselves into wolves by the light of the full moon."

As Elijah began to retell this tale Hayley watched as Amara raised her clenched hand, palm facing outward, took a deep breath and slowly opened it, as she did an image shimmered and took shape in front of them, a young boy smiling and laughing, he looked to be no more than twelve. / Hayley jumped backwards at the sight, startled. Amara realized that she had frightened the young girl and slowly closed her palm and dropped her hand, allowing the image to fade; Elijah didn't seem to notice anything amiss with Amara's actions and continued with his story. "Our family was devastated by this loss but none more than Niklaus. Desperate to protect the rest of us, our father forced our mother to call upon her black magic in order to make us stronger. Thus the first vampires were born, but with the speed the strength, the immortality came an unquenchable hunger, and none felt this hunger more than Niklaus. When he killed for the first time, he knew what he truly was. He wasn't just a vampire." Elijah said, giving Hayley a moment to absorb all of the information that had just been thrown at her.

"He was also a werewolf. That's how the werewolf curse works; you have to take a life." Hayley said, slightly shocked at this piece of information.

"My father was the result of an indiscretion my mawat had hidden from us all, an affair with a werewolf like yourself. Infuriated by this betrayal, grandfather forced her to cast a spell that would suppress my father's werewolf side, denying him any connection with that part of himself." As Amara spoke her anger rose and she grew extremely tense, Elijah tried his best to calm her.

"Amour, you must calm-"he began, but he was quickly interrupted as Amara lashed out, her fangs appearing as she spit the words out images2. and her irises turning a misty white .com.

"Why must I calm down, I was born human, I didn't chose this life for myself, I stayed with my father through the light and the dark times, and yet I had to fight everyday for the right to address him as father, but this thing, this _abomination,"_ she sneered as she jabbed a finger towards Hayley's torso "It won't have to fight a day in its life for that right." Amara said as she began to calm down turning back to Hayley before continuing to speak. "I cannot excuse my father's behavior but you must understand that his father hunted him… hunted all of us for centuries. Every time we settled and found a bit of happiness and normality, we were forced to flee, even here in New Orleans, where we were happiest of all. Not long after my father broke the curse that suppressed his werewolf side, he killed my grandfather, my Albi. Elijah and I thought that he would finally be content and we could become a family again, but he's angrier than ever." She said, sinking to the floor at Elijah's feet, pressing her forehead into his knees.

Elijah began stroking her hair comfortingly while speaking. "I wonder if, perhaps, this baby will be a way for my brother to find happiness, a way to save him from himself."

Sophie walked in at that moment. "I'm glad you feel that way because we need your help." She said.  
Amara rose from the ground as Elijah stood up. "What is it that you want me to do exactly and what does it have to do with this girl?" he asked.

"We want you to run Marcel and his vampire out of town. Klaus is the key. Everything that Marcel learned about being a vampire he learned from Klaus. Marcel trusts him, looks up to him. He won't see the betrayal coming." She explained.

"Yes well as I'm sure you already know my brother doesn't like to be told what to do." Elijah said simply.

"That's why I brought you and Amara here. Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago, how do you think he's going to react to a hybrid baby in the neighborhood. Convince Klaus to help us, and no one needs to know about the newest member to the original family."

"That sound remarkably like blackmail." Elijah said his eyes narrowing slightly.

Sophie just gave him a serious look. "Like I said I'm desperate."

Klaus leaned casually against the railing on the roof of a building as he watched a parade of lights and dancing take place below him, stiffening slightly at the feeling of the two people beside him. "So this is where you disappeared to Amara. Evening Elijah, what an extremely unwelcome surprise" He said without looking up as his daughter hung her head slightly, trailing Elijah as he stepped forward.

"And what an entirely unsurprising welcome, come with me" Elijah said turning.

"I'm not leaving until I find out who's conspiring against me." Klaus said and his daughter step forward almost fearfully.

"That's what we want to show you." She said pleadingly.

"No that's impossible. This is a lie you're all lying, vampires can't procreate." Klaus said as he stood in front of Sophie, Amara, and Hayley in the small room in the cemetery where Elijah had told Hayley his story.

"Elijah and I said the same thing, but Klaus, werewolves can procreate, magic made you a vampire, but you were born a werewolf, you're the original hybrid, the first of your kind and this pregnancy is just… one of nature's loopholes." Amara said as she sat with Hayley on the wooden bench.

"No it's a lie. You've been with someone else, admit it." Klaus shouted, turning on Hayley and taking a threatening step towards her.

Immediately his daughter was there, holding him back and trying to calm him as Hayley spoke up. "I've been held captive in a freaking alligator bayou for the past couple of days with only your daughter for company, don't you think I would have fessed up if it wasn't yours." She said clearly tired of being questioned.

"My sister gave her life to perform the spell to confirm this pregnancy. Because of Jane-Anne's sacrifice, the lives of this girl and her baby are in our hands. We can keep them safe or we can kill them. If you don't help us to take down Marcel, so help me, Hayley won't live to see her first maternity dress." Sophie threatened.

"Enough of this, if you want Marcel dead, he's dead I'll kill him myself." Elijah interjected.

"No. We can't. Not yet. We have a clear plan we need to follow and there are rules." Sophie said and Klaus stiffened turning towards the witch.

"How dare you command me, threaten me with what you wrongfully perceive to be my weaknesses. This is a pathetic deception. I won't hear any more of your lies." Klaus shouted as his daughter stepped in front of him grabbing him by both arms and forcing him to look at her.

"Niklaus… Father… listen" she said with tears threatening to spill from her eyes, and then Niklaus heard the faint sound of a small heart.

He turned his head to stare at Hayley his eyes flashing to her midriff before he turned to his daughter and his eyes hardened. He turned to Sophie. "Kill her and the baby. See what I care." He said before ripping himself away from his daughter who stood there with a look of shock and betrayal on her face, her arms still slightly outstretched, and walked away.

Elijah took several steps forward and grabbed Amara by the hand before turning to Sophie. "No one touches the girl while I fix this." He said and he pulled his still startled niece out of the room with him.

"It's a trick Elijah. I will not be manipulated" Klaus said as he stalked down an empty street of the city Elijah trailing behind, still dragging Amara.

"No brother it is a gift. It's your chance; it's our chance to start over, take back everything we lost, everything that was taken from us. Niklaus our own parents came to despise us. Our family was ruined. We were ruined and since then, all that you have ever wanted, all that we have ever wanted was a family. So there manipulating you, so what, with them, this girl and her child, your child, you can finally have all of that." Elijah said and Klaus stopped and turned on his brother.

"No" Klaus said stubbornly.

"Is it so important to you that people quake in fear at the sound of your name? I have spent eternity saving you from your own pitiful… selfish self. Do I have to beat you like grandfather used to beat you to remind you of your own humanity, you know, the thing you used to have where you at least pretended to care. Before life took away the little you had left, before ego, before anger, before paranoia created, in this person before me, someone who I can barley recognize as my own father. You want power right, family is power. Love, loyalty, that's power. This is what we swore to one another nearly a thousand years ago. This is us, daddy, the original family… we remain together always and forever. I'm asking you to, please, stay here, I'll help you, I'll stand by you. I will be the daughter that you always wanted. We will build a home here. So save this girl. Save your child." Amara said tears filling her eyes.

Klaus stepped up to her and reached out and caressed her cheek softly, leaning in slightly before whispering a single word. "No" before walking away

"Marcel and his vampires are out of control. Something had to be done and these aren't just any vampires. These are the originals." Sophie argued with the rest of the witches of the coven.

"How do you know you can control the hybrid?" One of the older witches stated.

"She doesn't. I'm not even certain that I can either but I'm curious, now that your coven has drawn his ire I have a question. What prevents Klaus from murdering you instead of cooperating?" Elijah asked as he stepped into the room, Amara at his side.

Sophie remained silent walking over to a shelve and pulling down a wickedly sharp dagger, and pressing it to her palm, as the knife dug into her flesh and blood began to seep from the wound Hayley cried out, staring down at her palm which had a cut that resembled the one on Sophie's palm. Sophie gave Elijah a stern and slightly threatening look. "The spell that my sister preformed, it didn't just confirm the pregnancy. It linked me to Hayley so whatever happens to me, happens to her which means her life is in my hands. Klaus may not care about his own child, but it's obvious what it already means to you. If I have to hurt Hayley, or worse to ensure that I have your attention, I will." Sophie said the threat clear in her voice.

"You would dare threaten an original" Elijah asked a bit shocked at the hostility.

"I have nothing to lose. You have until midnight to get Klaus to change his mind." Sophie said simply.

Rock music poured from the speakers in the courtyard where a party was in full swing. Elijah and Amara watched as Klaus angrily made his way through the crowds toward Marcel who joined his side. "Hey man where'd you run off to? What's up, someone put you in a mood. Anything I can do to help?" Marcel asked.

"Actually yes, what you can do is tell me about what this thing is that you have with the witches." Klaus snapped.

Marcel smiled, slightly. "Look you know I owe you everything I got but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to draw the line on this one. This is my business. I control the witches in my town. Let's just leave it at that." he said simply.  
Klaus chuckled slightly. "Your town, That's funny because when I left 100 years ago, you were still just a pathetic little scrapper trembling form the lashes of the whips of those who would keep you down, and now look at you, master of your domain, prince of the city. I'd like to know how." Klaus ranted as the sound of the party came to a stop around them.

"Why, jealous, hey man I get it. 300 years ago you helped build a backwater penal colony into something but then you left, actually you ran from it. I saw it through. Look around, vampires rule this city now, I got rid of the werewolves. I even found a way to shut down the witches. The blood never stops flowing and the party never ends. you wanna pass on through, you wanna stay awhile, great, what's mine is yours, but it is mine, my home, my family, my rules and when someone breaks those rules they die. And I'm not the prince of the city, friend, I'M THE KING." Marcel snapped.

Klaus's jaw clenched and unclenched as he suddenly flashed over to one of Marcel's men, biting deep into the vampire's neck. Pulling away he turned back to Marcel. "Your friend will be dead by the weekend which means I've broken one of your rules but yet I can not die, I am truly immortal."

"He is willing to give up everything." Elijah spoke into the phone as he walked down the street. After Klaus had bit the young vampire he had left quickly, most likely to find something or someone to drink dry.

"Come on Elijah does that really surprise you?" Rebekah said, unsurprised by the information.

"I can already see it he's spiraling. He's lashing out in a blind rage, do you realize that the last time this happened it lasted nearly 200 years." Elijah said trying to make his sister understand.

"Then leave him to his temper tantrum and come home, with any luck, this little misadventure will allow us a small reprieve from his insanity." Rebekah said indifferently.

"He was so close. When he heard the baby's heartbeat; I could see it in his eyes. He wanted it. He could almost taste happiness, and now his temper has destroyed it. Even if I was able to return him to his sanity, he just lost Marcel's trust and I'm almost out of time to get the girl." He said as he searched the busy streets for the sign to the hotel that Amara had told him about before she had left to take care of some sort of business.

"Get her? Have you lost your mind? Are we running an orphanage now?" Rebekah said, frustrated with her brothers generosity.

"Say what you will about Niklaus, but on my life, I'm not letting anything happen to that baby."

"You find him and then you call me. Don't worry I know how to deal with Klaus." Marcel said as he hung up his cell phone.

"Is that so, please elaborate," Amara said as she stepped forward.

Marcel seemed surprised to see her there and even a bit fearful. "Amara Mikaelson" he said formally as several of the vampires sitting in the tables around him stood up ready to attack.

Marcel held up a hand. "It's alright let her be." He said as Amara sat down across from him in the smoky barroom.

Amara gave Marcel a polite smile. "It's time we had a little chat."

"Well if you're going to talk, talk. I got things to do." Marcel said with an irritated wave of his hand.

"Oh my, we have grown quite confident over the last century haven't we?" Amara said in the same tone.

"Me? I've say it's you and your father that have gotten cocky, come into my town like you own the place." Marcel said angrily.

"Well you'll have to excuse our behavior. You'll do well to remember that at one time we did own the place. We were quite happy as I recall, although we could never quite control those pesky witches of the French quarter. Tell me, how exactly did you manage it?" Amara asked getting to the root of why she was here.

Marcel sighed. "Your father asked me the same question I gave him the same answer, it's my business. Everything in this town is my business. Klaus comes into town all nice and friendly. Then he starts looking down his nose at what I've done like it's one of his cheap knockoff paintings. Then he gets pissed and bites one of my guys." Marcel ranted.

"Well I do apologize for my father's poor behavior. I assume you know that your friend will be dead in a matter of days. Of course Nicklaus's blood would cure him." Amara said nonchalantly.

Marcel gave her an incredulous look. "What?"

"Apparently the blood of the hybrid will cure a werewolf bite. Quite a handy piece of information when someone is trying to arrange a negotiation" Amara said.

"What kind of negotiation?" Marcel questioned.

"Return the body of the witch Jane-Anne, allow her people to put her to rest." Amara said simply.

"What do you care about the witches?" Marcel asked suspiciously.

Amara gave him a cold and detached look before and ironic smile broke out across her face. "Well that's _my_ business now isn't it?"

A clock tolled midnight in the distance as Sophie sat in the small room waiting with those of her coven. She let out a heavy sigh. "His time is up, what you gonna do now Sophie?" one of the older witches, Agnes, asked.

"I'm going to do what I said I was going to do." Sophie said with a resigned determination.

"What? Kill the girl; kill yourself, Klaus doesn't care about the child." Agnes said.

"I do." Elijah said and the witches turned to see him and Amara walk in. In Elijah's arms was a body wrapped in a white sheet.

"We bring proof of our promise to you through a gift, the body of one of your fallen, procured from Marcel himself." Amara said as tears welled in Sophie's eyes and she rushed forward.

Elijah carefully set the body down on the ground and Sophie sank to the ground next to it. "May she be granted peace. Klaus will agree to your terms, we just need a little more time. For now accept the terms we've established; no harm shall come to the girl… or her child." Amara said and Agnes bristled.

"You've had your time." She hissed and Sophie quickly silenced her with a glare nodding to both Elijah and Amara.

As Amara turned to leave Sophie grabbed her wrist. "Thank you." She whispered and Amara gave her a knowing smile.

Klaus sat in an empty park. Amara hesitantly walked over and sat beside him.

"Shouldn't you be with Elijah?" Klaus hissed out and Amara shrank away slightly.

"You know that wasn't my choice to go with him… you were cruel." She said, clearly wounded.

Klaus looked at her, heartbroken that he had caused her so much pain. "This town was our home once and in our absence Marcel has gotten everything I ever wanted; power, loyalty, _family_. I made him in my image and he has bettered me. I want what he has, I want it back. I wanna be _king_. Tell Sophie Deveraux that we have a deal." Klaus said and Amara smiled and threw her arms around him.

Hayley coughed slightly as she pulled a dust cover off of one of the many pieces of furniture that filled the large house that had stood empty for nearly a century. Amara walked in and smiled at the young girl. "You alright?" Amara asked.

"It's just dust. This place is ancient." Hayley said with a smile as Amara slowly walked into the room.  
"I know but it should suit our needs. Just think of it as… a sanctuary, from our business in the French quarter. Right now you're one of the most important people in this family and you need a good home… I am curious about one thing though… in all this time has anyone asked you feel about this?" Amara said.

"About having a miracle baby with a psychotic one night stand that I now can't get away from?" Hayley asked sarcastically.

"About being a mother." Amara said quietly.

Hayley stood speechless for a moment. "I-I was abandoned when I was born and… my adoptive parents kicked me out the minute that I turned into a werewolf. So…I don't really know how I feel about being a mom because… I never really had a good one." Hayley explained.

Amara nodded. "As crazy as it sounds, I can understand where you're coming from and I want you to know that no matter what, I will try my best to protect you, you have both mine and Elijah's word on that." Amara said.

"Such noble words Amara. After all both you and Elijah always keep your word." Klaus said from the doorway.  
Amara stiffened. "Is it done?" she asked coldly.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Your underhanded deal worked quite well. Marcel was only too happy to accept my blood even as he accepted my heartfelt apologues, his man, Terri, lives and I remain a welcome guest in the French quarter. My only concern is now, is this coven of witches." Klaus said walking into the room, Hayley shrunk back slightly but Amara remained tall, showing no sign of fear or worry as she answered.

"I believe the witches to be honorable; after all they did release Hayley to me and Elijah. Although they haven't been entirely forthcoming, Marcel obviously has something that they need, they don't want him dead. There must be a reason why. Why don't you go ask Elijah what he thinks, he's in the study." Amara said as she motioned to Hayley to follow her and they headed into the next room to continue unpacking.

"In addition to this secret weapon he uses to control the witches, Marcel has assembled a small army of vampires. Working together, we could destroy them from the inside." Elijah voiced after Klaus had filled him in on the conversation between him and his daughter.

"And what of Rebekah? Has she stopped her pouting long enough to join the fun" Klaus asked.

Elijah sighed "She has made her disinterest quite clear."

"One too many times daggered and shoved in a box I gather or perhaps she doesn't share in your unwavering belief that I can be saved." Klaus said.

"Rebekah may surprise us yet, after all, we all swore the same thing." Elijah said.

Klaus poured himself a drink. "I hope she stays far, far away. Because in my desire to reclaim this town, to steal from that which he holds most dear, I have realized one massive vulnerability, one weakness that Marcel could exploit." Klaus said walking round the desk to stand face to face with his brother.

"And what is this weakness?" Elijah asked.

"You" Klaus said before shoving a magical silver dagger into his brother's heart.

Elijah cried out in pain and Klaus grabbed his brother, supporting Elijah's weight as he died. "Forgive me, my brother. There is no power in love, mercy makes you weak, and family makes you weak. And if I am going to win this war. I have to do it alone." Klaus said as Elijah took his last breath.

A young girl sat at a vanity a, lit candle in front of her. She slowly closed her hand and the flame died, when she reopened her hand it shot to life again. Marcel walked in. "I assume it's quiet out there." He said with a smile.

The girl sighed. "The witches know better than to use magic. They know that I can sense it when they do. What about the old ones? There dangerous and I don't want them to hurt you" she said turning to Marcel.

"The originals. Divina, as powerful as you are, they don't stand a chance." Marcel said.


End file.
